Labor Day: Pausing to remember

As your new NJEA officers, we are excited about the year to come and eager to carry out the work you elected us to do. Most of all, we are excited to work with you, because the strength of our union lies in all 200,000 of us. But today, we all pause to remember those who paved the way for where we are now.

Whether this weekend was a welcome break after the first few days of school or the last hurrah of summer before the school year starts, we hope you are enjoying this celebration of the working women and men who helped build our great nation.

As union members, we are a vital part of that proud labor tradition. NJEA has always fought for better economic and working conditions for our members and we have always advocated for great public schools for our students. But our commitment must remain broader than only that. We must work hand-in-hand with other working people to advance policies and build a society that respects and rewards all workers and protects the rights and dignity of all people.

That is why NJEA supports an agenda that includes the issues that are most important to our members, like Ch. 78 relief, funding for all schools from pre-K through higher education, stronger job and due process protections for our ESP members, responsible pension funding and a less onerous evaluation system.

But we also work with other unions and organizations that share our values on other issues that pertain to racial, economic and social justice. We know that when our society is more just, our communities are supported and our economy is fairer, our schools do better and our students flourish.

This weekend especially, our commitment to solidarity with all people calls us to lend support to those who are suffering from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey. There are many ways to help, including through the Hurricane Harvey Relief Fund set up by NEA to directly support our colleagues who were harmed by the storm. I hope you will join us in helping out however you are able.

Once again, thank you for the opportunity you have given us to serve and thank you especially for all the work you do to make both our public schools and our union the strongest in the nation.